Ink fountain roll



March 22, 1960 E. H. NEWBEGIN 2,929,321

" mx FOUNTAIN ROLL Filed Jan. 26, 1959 INVENTOR. EVERETT H. NEWBEGIN BY Mfg? ATTORNEY INK FOUNTAIN ROLL Everett H. Newbegin, West Upton, Mass, assignor to Whitin Machine Works, Whitinsville, Mass, 21 corporation of Massachusetts Application January 26, 1959, Serial No. 788,874

1 Claim. (Cl. 191-364) This invention relates to a new and improved ink foun tain roll for a printing press or offset duplicator.

In machines of this kind, there is an ink fountain which is a reservoir or well for the ink that is to be used in the machine, and this fountain is supported by its end members on the bearings which support the shaft of the ink fountain roll itself. This fountain roll is of hard rubber or the like, and its length has to be very accurately determined and its ends accurately machined, so that there is no space between the such ends (of the fountain roll) and the end members or walls of the ink fountain, for the purpose of attempting to prevent leakage of ink past the ends of the fountain roll into the bearings. However, in spite of the extreme accuracy exercised in the prior art in machining the inside surfaces of the fountain end members and the flat end portions of the fountain roll, ink will escape past the ends of the fountain roll into the shaft bearings, etc.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the defects of the prior art by preventing ink flowing into the shaft bearings of the fountain roll; to provide a fountain roll construction providing an effective and inexpensive seal at each end of the fountain roll; and to provide a greater leeway in manufacturing tolerances, so that it is no longer necessary to hold the machining of the fountain ends and the ends of the fountain roll to such close tolerances as required heretofore.

Further objects of the present invention include the provision of a fountain roll for an ink fountain including special softer end members on the roll, such end members being in constant contact with the end walls and forming seals therewith to prevent the escape of ink from the fountain.

The invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly set forth in the appended claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation showing the ink fountain and fountain roll with associated elements of the inking system of an offset duplicator;

Fig. 2 is a view on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the fountain roll shaft and fountain roll in section.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the reference characters and 11 indicate the side wall members of the frame of an offset duplicator or similar machine. In these wall members, various shafts are journalled, see for instance the shafts 12 and 13. On shaft 12, there is a cylinder 14 provided with a rubber blanket 15, and on the shaft 13 there is a cylinder 16 which carries the printing plate 17. Also rotatably journalled in the frame, there are a set of shafts for ink transfer rolls 18, 19, 20 and 21, and the shaft bearings for the shaft 22 of the fountain roll 23.

The shaft 22 of the fountain roll is mounted in bearings 24 and 25, these being secured to the side wall members 10 and 11, see Fig. 2. Mounted on the bearings in more or less the usual manner are the end wall members 26 and 27 of a conventional ink fountain construction 28 which is provided with a plate or flexible blade 29, positioned by a plurality of adjusting screws 30 in the usual manner, regulating the amount of ink applied to the surface of the fountain roll.

The fountain r011 23 is conventionally made to fit snugly and accurately between the inner surfaces of the end walls 26 and 27 of the ink fountain 28, and is intermittently driven by a ratchet mechanism not shown but conventional in the art. Ink is transferred from the fountain roll to the roll 21 which is a transfer roll by means of a ductor roll 32. This ductor roll may be rotatably mounted on shaft 33 supported by a pair of arms 34 pivotally secured to the end wall members 10 and 11 as for instance by means of pins 35, this construction being the same at each end of the roll 32. The action of the ductor roll is to swing periodically about the pins 35 as pivots into alternate engagement with the transfer roll and the fountain roll by a mechanism not shown but conventional in the art.

All of the parts thus far described are of more or less the usual type found in rotary printing presses and offset duplicators, and regardless of accuracy of fit between the ends of the fountain roll and the end walls 26 and 27, ink will leak past the ends of the roll.

In the improvement in the present device, the new ink fountain roll is made somewhat shorter than usual and discs or collars 40 of relatively soft rubbery material are secured in any way as for instance by vulcanization to the ends of the fountain roll. These collars of course increase the length of the new shorter fountain roll, and engage the inside Walls at the ends of the ink fountain as clearly shown in Fig. 2. These collars are made of a degree of hardness which provides a very effective seal between the ink contained in the fountain and the end wall members of the fountain, so that as the fountain roll rotates, a rotary seal of high efliciency is provided.

Due to the resiliency of the soft rubber collars or discs 40, it is not necessary to expend time and effort in holding the close manufacturing tolerances of the prior art, and manufacturing costs are therefore reduced as well as obtaining the improvement provided in making an effective seal, not possible in the prior art regardless of the accuracy which may have existed in the machining operations of the prior art.

As a matter of fact, the collars or discs 40 are provided with a du'rometer reading of about half that of the usual fountain roll, and this has been found to provide the best seal. It is pointed out that the new fountain roll is made of hard rubber material as usual, with the softer end dism as described above rotating in fiat, endwise constant contact with the end walls of the ink fountain as described. I

The main body of the roll 23 is cylindrical and its length is extended by the softer discs 46 which in essence are held by the roll tightly enough against the walls 26 and 27 of the fountain to act as efficient ink seals and to avoid the extreme accuracy required in the prior art, and to otherwise carry out the objects of the invention.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what is claimed is:

A roll for an ink fountain having end walls, said roll comprising a shaft, a relatively hard rubber-like cylindrical member on the shaft, the surface of said cylinaatentea M 22, men

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Eisenhardt Nov. 28, 1893 Meyer Sept. 7, 1943 Rockofi et a1. Sept. 18, 1956 Meyer Jan. 15, 1957 

